Story:

Hi friends,

Pls if anyone stops u in the parking lot of a mall or somewhere else and ask if u’re interested in some perfume and gives u a paper to smell, pls don’t smell. It’s a new scam, the paper is laced with drugs. U’ll pass out so they can kidnap, rob or do worse things to u.

This happened in more than 3 well known malls in Kolkata
And over 7 girls are missing

Pls forward to all friends n family. Save a life please. This was received from a Senior police officer, take note and alert everyone u want to protect. Knowledge is power!
It can save a life!

Mahender Reddy
Commissioner of police

Fact Check:

The message doing rounds on WhatsApp and other social media sites warns people to Beware of Drugged Perfume Samples in Parking Lots of Malls. It says criminals in disguise are offering people drug laced perfume samples to make them unconscious and then rob, kidnap or do worse things. Allegedly, such incidents happened in more than 3 well known malls in Kolkata, India. The warning appears like a message coming from a Commissioner of Police named Mahender Reddy. Despite the claims, the messages warning people about Drugged Perfume Samples in parking lots of malls are not true.

Drugged Perfume Samples in Parking Lots?

Firstly, we did not find any credible evidence to suggest such a warning message is coming from a police official called Mahender Reddy. We found M. Mahender Reddy is the current in-charge Director General of Police of Telangana, India, and again, there’s no such message from him. We have also seen these messages circulate online in many versions, in several countries through emails and on social media sites.

Watch out-this is for real!

I just heard on the radio about a lady that was asked to sniff a bottle of perfume that another woman was selling for $8.00 (In a mall parking lot). She told the story that it was her last bottle of perfume that regularly sells for $49.00 but she was getting rid of it for only $8.00, sound legitimate?

That’s what the victim thought, but when she awoke she found out that her car had been moved to another parking area and she was missing all her money that was in her wallet (total of $800.00). Pretty steep for a sniff of perfume!

Anyway, the perfume wasn’t perfume at all, it was some kind of ether or strong substance to cause anyone who breathes the fumes to black out.

SO, Please beware … Christmas time is coming and we will be going to malls shopping and we will have cash on us.Ladies, please don’t be so trusting of others and beware of your surroundings-ALWAYS! Obey your instincts!

Related Old Incident

These messages warning about drugged perfume samples root to a very old incident that took place on 8th November 1999. During afternoon time, 54-year-old Bertha Johnson complained Mobile Police Department in Alabama about such robbing. According to her, a woman offered to let her smell samples of cologne, after which she instantly passed out. After coming to conscious, she says she lost money from her purse and her vehicle. The case, however, remained open, and toxicology reports did not show any foreign substances in Bertha Johnson’s system. Her versions of robbery also remained suspicious; she said she was robbed of $800 employer money she was carrying to bank for deposit.

Post the incident in 1999, many such warning messages circulated on internet space and through emails. While the initial versions mentioned the perfume Knockout Cologne, later versions just mentioned perfume. Some mentioned the knockout drug is Ether and also spread false warning that such attacks were common and widespread. There’s also another popular claim suggesting criminals are drugging and robbing people at petrol stations by offering them Business Cards laced with Burundanga drug.

Incidents Not Likely

We did not find credible reports of such incidents taking place in India or elsewhere. Unlike what most movies and Television shows portray, it’s hard to find drugs that will make you unconscious instantly with just a sniff or two. For example, Chloroform and Ether take some minutes of consistent inhalation to have an effect on humans. Like suggested in message, if a drug makes you unconscious so instantly, it means it is very poisonous and can also be lethal. But again there are no such death reports involving robbery.

To conclude, the warnings about Drugged Perfume Samples in Parking Lots of Malls are old hoax messages which keep surfacing online. Nonetheless, it is always good to be alert in public places.